Emdeon buys FutureVision, expects electronic billing boost

Nashville-based medical billing company Emdeon Inc. has purchased a Salt Lake City company in a move that it hopes will free itself from a major chore — handling the vast reams of paper bills that still dominate the health care industry.

FutureVision specializes in the conversion of documents for electronic usage. Emdeon paid about $20 million for FutureVision Technologies, with additional payments of up to $40 million depending on how FutureVision performs over the next three years.

"Today, roughly 90 percent of payments in health care are conducted via paper. At Emdeon, we are committed to changing this fact,” Emdeon CEO George Lazenby said in a news release. “FVTech's technology, when combined with our industry leading all-payer network, will position Emdeon to help our customers overcome many of the barriers that prevent automation of these payments. ... These capabilities will allow Emdeon to create immediate savings for our customers through automation and help reduce costly errors that commonly occur through manual processes."

In its news release, Emdeon cited a November 2009 report by Celent that projected as much as $11 billion in annual savings realized in the United States alone by converting paper checks and explanation of benefits to electronic data.

Emdeon (NYSE: EM), which works with more than 500,000 health care providers, ranks No. 13 on Nashville Business Journal’s list of largest locally-based businesses, with $854 million in revenue in 2008.

The company went public in August, raising $365 million by selling about 23.5 million shares at $15.50 each. At 10 a.m., its shares were up 27 cents to $15.40.